It is generally known that exhaled breath contains certain useful biometric markers which may be used to determine whether a patient has a particular illness. For example, elevated levels of interleukin-6, interleukin-8, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), and von Willebrand factor (vWF) may indicate that a patient has an acute lung injury. See Cepkova, Magda et al., “Biological markers of lung injury before and after the institution of positive pressure ventilation in patients with acute lung injury,” http://ccforum.com/content/10/5/R126, Critical Care 2006, 10:R126 doi:10.1186/cc5037, Sep. 6, 2006 (accessed Feb. 24, 2009).
Although exhaled breath is primarily gaseous (i.e., air), there is a moisture content in the breath which can be collected in liquid form and separated from the gaseous components. This moisture content in the aforementioned exhaled breath may be collected as condensate when it accumulates on a surface, similarly to when someone breathes on a mirror. This condensate is known as “exhaled breath condensate.” It is possible to collect the exhaled breath condensate from a patient and test it to determine whether a particular biometric marker is present.
Conventional exhaled breath condensate testing devices and methods are designed to collect a large sample of condensate, typically over a 10-20 minute breathing period. This long collection time period is required to allow for enough condensate to be collected to provide for transfer to pipettes, test tubes, slides, or other typical laboratory testing apparatuses, requiring even more time for diagnosis.
In accordance with conventional methods and apparatuses, the patient must breathe into a device, and the condensate collects on a surface, which may be a flat surface or in a collection device, e.g., a test tube. The collected sample is then typically taken to a laboratory for analysis, which is oftentimes off-site if the collection is performed in a patient's home or in a doctor's office where there is typically no in-house laboratory. Therefore, for conventional devices and methods, the time required from breath collection to diagnosis and the patient's receiving results may be hours, days, or even weeks.
This may be problematic if immediate confirmation of an injury or illness is required, and significantly slows down the process of diagnosing a patient. Moreover, the conventional devices and methods must be used under professional supervision, and are not available for home use by a patient.
Accordingly, there is a need and desire for an exhaled breath condensate testing device that is easy to use and gives rapid results.